Lew Urged by Senator Hatch to Release Emergency Debt Plan
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Hatch proposes greater transparency in debt-contingency plans
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GOP, Obama administration at odds over prioritizing payments
Republicans are stepping up demands to the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve for more transparency on debt-management plans during a crisis, as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch called Secretary Jacob J. Lew “less than forthcoming” in congressional testimony on the issue.
The government in 2011 and 2013 almost breached the nation’s debt limit, pushing the Fed and Treasury Department to draw up contingency plans. Republicans and the Obama administration have clashed over whether the government can prioritize debt payments to avoid violating the legal borrowing limit as GOP lawmakers refused to raise the ceiling and Lew called prioritizing payments “default by another name.”…